1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to service data objects and more particularly relates to setting and retrieving dynamic header information into and from service data objects for protocol based technology adapters.
2. Description of the Related Art
Many corporations depend upon enterprise information systems (EISs) to manage their data and workflow. In some instances, an EIS application integrates a corporate database with day to day work processes. Employees may use one EIS to track inventory levels, shipments, purchases, and sales. Employees may use another EIS to track personnel related information.
As corporations acquire multiple EISs, system administrators frequently need to integrate data from one EIS into another EIS. In addition, system administrators may need to convert data in legacy formats to formats useable by an EIS. Finally, system administrators may need to convert EIS data into formats compatible with legacy applications. To solve these problems, various vendors provide specialized adapters and brokers to process data in one format and modify the data for use by another application in a second format. Many adapters have been written that process very specific data formats and convert them to a second specific format. However, the adapters available today do not handle arbitrary variations from a standardized format.
From the foregoing discussion, it should be apparent that a need exists for an apparatus, system, and method that handle data formats having arbitrary variations from a standardized format. Beneficially, such an apparatus, system, and method would allow users and system administrators to modify existing applications without having to modify intermediate adapters.